BALTIMORE, Dec. 1, 2015—Lutheran World Relief, an international NGO working in 35 countries to develop sustainable solutions to poverty and food insecurity, marked #GivingTuesday by releasing its 2016 Early Warning Forecast of regions it is monitoring for potential humanitarian crises over the coming year.

The economic crisis in Europe continues to hit headlines. According to the last EU figures, 43.6
million of EU citizens find difficulties in accessing food on a daily basis, and trends show that the need
for food assistance is likely to increase in the near future.

Over 26 millions of people were unemployed across the EU in April 2013, by 1.7 million more than in
April 2012. Youth unemployment figures are particularly alarming, with peaks of 56 per cent in Spain
and 62.5 per cent in Greece.